I miss my Mr. Snuggles

I'm home alone, watching Four Weddings And A Funeral. I'm all emotion 'cause I took I took a sleeping pill last night and they always make me sappy the next day.

Yeah. Being home alone all day, without a job, is very lonely work. It's really lazy too. I've gained back 5 of the 15 lbs I've lost in the past few months, all in about 2 weeks. I don't do many chores and I'm a slob.

Babble, babble.

Stone Mountain Lodge

Um, there was no lodge. The bathrooms had showers and brown tiles. The ceremony site was gorgeous, but the reception tent was just eh. The "bridal tent" smelled like mildew.

Overall, you'd get some decent bang for your buck, but it definitely isn't the right place for us. Though I did meet a really helpful caterer/event planner. With this venue, I'm too worried about everyone 1) getting stuck in the mud if there's any inclement weather and 2) it being a place you have to drive too, people drinking at our simcha and then driving is a big fear of mine. I think we're going to stick with places downtown, within walking distance of a hotel, or at a hotel/lodge that has an actual lodge and isn't a motel.

Whatever, I sound like I'm bashing the place.... That wasn't my goal. If you're into cushy rustic, then this is the place for you. From the cute little cabins I saw a family of deer, and the vistas are amazing. But, apparently I'm attached to amenities like pavement and nicer bathrooms. Oh well. I'm sure it is the perfect place for the right couple.

 the cute little upstairs of a guest cabin
reception tent dance floor

the bridal tent/getting ready area (me in the mirror)

duck pond and yellow wildlife crossing sign in the background

outside of the reception tent

ceremony area

bathroom building with mini storage barn in front of it

looking down at the reception tent and duck pond from the entrance

one of the guest houses

mule deer

looking down the corridor at the motel-like rooms

the area where you’re allowed to put RVs and tents

Millennium Harvest House

Here are photos of the tour the dude and I went on this morning. The minimum is $10,000, with a $500 setup fee. They only hold one event per day so there's no need to worry about not having a weather backup plan because someone else got in the way. I've annotated the photos. I forgot to take photos of the day room that we would have access to all weekend, but it's about 800 square feet and has a large bathroom. It also has a wall of windows and they'd bring in whatever furniture we want in there, we only saw it bare. The only rules for the day room: no sleeping overnight in there and no liquor. They would also provide one complimentary "superior" room for Ben and I to have the night of the wedding.

The hotel is totally OK with us using an ice cream cater (though they would rather arrange it, like most other places) as well as having a flambe station. Candles and open flames are fine. There are a bunch of glass/mirror things we can use for no extra charge to make up table decorations, and their regular china is just fine but they have an arrangement with a rental company if we want to upgrade. I wonder if we can have a bonfire too.... That would be icing on the cake.


The Pavilion, or as I like to call it, the yurt, can hold up to 300. They put down a portable dance floor out on the side where the tennis courts are. There are dark green, waterproof canvases (I think they have windows) that can be rolled down if needed. There are also space heaters they can bring out if we want to stay outside even if it's totally freezing. The bathroom is on the right.



Here's the covered pathway from the hotel to the pavilion/yurt. The bathroom is on the left. It was locked, so I didn't get to check it out.



This is the lawn where most people set up their ceremony. You can see the mountains through the frees. The bridge goes over the creek and joins the Boulder Creek Path, it goes all the way out to the synagogue (34 blocks) and up to Boulder Falls (passing Pearl Street, about 1 1/2 miles away). That's the edge of the pavilion on the far right.



The tennis courts in the background are covered in big white bubbles by mid September.



This is the indoor/snow/rainstorm option. It's a ballroom. It has windows that overlook the courtyard where the pavilion/cocktail area/lawn are.

images that inspire me

River Bend Golf and Country Club

My aunt and uncle are members of River Bend Golf and Country Club in Great Falls, Virginia. It is about 15 to 20 minutes from my parents house, and about 10 from Great Falls National Park.

They're redecorating it next winter. Sadly, it is too small for our needs. Only 90 people for the ceremony if it needs to be held inside. Very affordable though, but also very do-it-yourself. There really wasn't a planner, just a site coordinator.


the outside, front entrance



the pretty foyer, looking back towards the welcome desk


there's a piano in there!

the "rotunda" area, the corner of the L-shaped room we would have the small leg and corner of (the larger leg is the club's main dining area and can't be rented out)

Out and about in Old Town, Alexandrea

While I’m home in DC I tried to meet up with a few of my girlfriends. Especially Whitney (WAJR), she and I are birthday twins (though I’m a year and a few hours earlier). We went out for a wander in Old Town yesterday (Friday). We looked at sample dresses at Gossypia, ate falafel, looked at cookware, saw Michelle Obama’s dress at Talbots, sadly it didn’t fit either of us and was a little outside both of our budgets.

WAJR and Andrew married this past August in Staunton, Virginia, Andrew’s home town. Here are a few photos from their wedding ceremony, reception, and hanging out in hotel rooms afterward:







pretty flowers (while looking for my purse after the reception)



“after party” with some HS people and their SOs


then going to play Apples to Apples with Maria, and WAJR and Roo’s UVA buddies


Will and Will

Sequoia Restaurant, 30th and K, Georgetown

Our number one venue in Washington, DC is Sequoia, in Georgetown. It is apparently named after the presidential yacht, not the tree. Though the yacht might be named after the tree... Anyway, here are the photos. It is SO pretty. Here's a review showing what it looks like in the winter: review.

It's super pretty. You can see the Kennedy Center looking down the river, and you can sorta see Georgetown looking up (or just the Key Bridge)[sorry, no photos of that view]. Across the Potomac is Roosevelt Island, a National Park. Here are my pictures:

^ yes, that IS the Kennedy Center

Oh yeah, we can rent the WHOLE patio for ourselves!

Logistically, it'll be very interesting. There's no rental fee, if we meet the minimum (no problem), but there is an extra fee to rent out the patio. If we don't rent out the patio, re risk gawkers being seated out there, and that would be lame. Also, because the bow of the restaurant (there's a mild nautical them) sticks out over the promenade, and can get some really harsh sunlight, the event coordinator strongly suggests that we draw the curtains during the ceremony (and try and time it between security fly-overs along the river, where helicopters like to skim the Potomac while playing leapfrog with each other).

There's also a really plush private room off the main restaurant that would still be open to the public, it seats 40 in big leather chairs and sorta looks over where we would put the dance floor. For lunch, the coordinator says that she doubts anyone will want to sit there and that we'd  have the main restaurant, bar, and upper patio (the lower patio can't be rented at all, but it's really a bar/grill and much less fancy-shmancy) all to ourselves!